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Photo of the Week: Greening Mozambique

April 02, 2014

An environmentally and economically sustainable agroforestry program is catalyzing rural development in Mozambique.

Workers at a tree nursery in Mozambique’s Niassa Province tend pine seedlings destined for abandoned and degraded farmlands in the region. Once planted, these trees will help rehabilitate the soil while signaling a new future for rural communities.

Through the Agro-Forestry Village Program, TechnoServe is working to develop a plantation forestry industry in Mozambique that promotes sustainable land use, improved agricultural practices and rural economic development. The growing industry is attracting new investments and generating thousands of wage-paying jobs, both on forestry plantations and in new small businesses that are cropping up to support the sector

Adopting an integrated approach, the Agro-Forestry Village Program is also helping farmers in the targeted regions transition from subsistence to commercially-oriented agriculture. With support from the U.S. Department for Agriculture under Food for Progress, the program aims to break the cycle of poverty for 60,000 workers, farmers and their family members.